Quesadilla Tuesday

Just created a new post category here. I don’t know why we didn’t do it before – probably because until recently everything we were busy with revolved around the wedding. But now, three months into our marriage (and doing great) and well into the working year for both of us, talk of matrimony is set aside for a more immediate practical concern: food.

Neither of us did much cooking as single people – we were both fast-food folks. Problem is, that crap’s expensive and not particularly good for you; it’s just convenient and there’s no dishes to wash afterwards. But now that we have lunches to pack in the morning and someone else to cook for and evening assistance at the kitchen sink (not to mention an awesome array of new professional-grade kitchen gadgets), we’ve learned to save money and eat a lot better by nailing down some regular dinner recipes.

Last night – Tuesday – we’re sitting around playing video games with my brother Chris in Orlando. Every Tuesday night we have this activity arranged, usually Grand Theft Auto 4, and usually Kristi and Chris slugging it out online while I’m fixing dinner. We’re all on the phone and using headsets, hanging out and playing and joking for a few hours. And while they’re diligently working together to blast their way through dozens of bad guys to blow up a tanker ship, I’m making quesadillas. They’re simple, delicious, nutritious and easy to eat with your hands. Perfect video game food.

So to inaugurate the new Food section of R&K, here’s the current incarnation of my Tuesday night quesadilla recipe.

Full recipe after the jump.

Quesadilla con Pollo de la Warren

First, for those who don’t know: quesadillas are basically Mexican grilled cheese sandwiches. Same principle, except you’re using tortillas instead of sliced bread and more stuff goes into the sandwich than just cheese. (And if you’re a Taco Bell fan, what they make is not a true quesadilla. That’s just crappy fast food.)

To make my version of quesadilla con pollo (“quesadilla with chicken”), you need:

Chicken. I usually use a four-breast package, sliced and diced up into half-inch chunks.
Onion. One big yellow onion or two smaller ones.
Tomato. Three plum tomatoes.
Mushrooms. To taste, and I’ve tried both regular and portabella. Either works.
Garlic. Two decent sized garlic cloves.
Cheese. One pound of a grated four-cheese Mexican blend. It HAS to be grated.
Tortillas. The big burrito-sized ones (the brand here is Mission). Have plenty on hand.

For seasoning, have chili powder, black pepper, garlic salt, onion salt and regular salt handy.

Okay, first chop up the chicken and get it cooking: just slice it all up into half-inch (or so) chunks, put it all in a pot and get the heat going while you chop up vegetables.

Now this thing requires a lot of vegetable chopping, which you could do the hard way – with a knife – assuming you’re a masochist with time to kill. Else, you can buy one of these things. It cuts our chopping time down to almost nothing. Chop up the onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. Mince up the garlic in a garlic press or chop it up fine.

Once the chicken has cooked all the way through, dump all the veggies into the pot and start cooking it all together. Season to taste. The juices from the chicken and veggies will all mix together into something that gradually starts taking on a gumbo texture. At that point, put the whole mix through a colander to drain off the juice. (Otherwise you’re going to have very soggy quesadillas.)

Take the pot off the stove and set it on a potholder on the kitchen counter. Put a large (12-14″) fry skillet in its place on the stove; if it’s not a no-stick, lightly oil it. Get things arranged on the counter in assembly-line style: pot of fillings, a place to assemble your sandwiches, a cutting board for slicing finished quesadillas, and a large plate to deposit the finished product. This recipe makes a lot of this stuff; keeping it all organized like this is the only way to do it.

Now, one at a time: take a single tortilla and spread a handful of cheese evenly across it. Then put some of the gumbo mixture on the cheese and fold the tortilla in half. The idea is to have a decent mixture of both cheese and filling, and to have enough cheese to melt and hold the thing together. Take the folded tortilla and gently place it in the pan under medium heat. (If you put it on high, the tortilla will burn before the cheese is fully melted. Medium melts the cheese first and then lightly browns the tortilla.) While that one is cooking, get started making the next one.

Watch the tortilla cooking. When the cheese is melted enough so that you can safely flip the quesadilla, flip it. Let the other side melt a bit. Keep checking back, flipping occasionally, until it’s melted all the way through and both sides are very lightly brown and crisp. Then transfer that one to the cutting board and put the next one in the pan.

Cut the finished quesadilla in half and put it on the plate. Stack each completed one on top of the last. The new ones will keep the old ones warm and help melt the cheese completely.

If you do it this way, it goes pretty quick. We usually end up with dinner for two and lunch leftovers for a day or two. They’re good with guacamole and/or refried beans if you want to get fancy, but work just fine by themselves.

Enjoy!

(Next time around: probably my take on shrimp scampi.)